The Complete Guide to Hiding Your Followers on TikTok

Have you ever wondered if there was a way to hide your followers on TikTok? With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok has become one of the biggest social media platforms. But with its massive reach comes valid privacy concerns.

You may not feel comfortable with random strangers from across the globe viewing your followers list and snooping on who you interact with. The good news is – TikTok offers privacy settings to take control over who can see your followers.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll provide you with two powerful methods to hide your followers list on TikTok:

Switching your account to private
Hiding your "Following" list

I‘ll explain step-by-step how to configure both options, along with expert tips to maximize your account privacy. Let‘s get started!

Can You Actually Hide Followers on TikTok?

Before jumping into the how-to, you may be wondering – is it even possible to hide your followers on TikTok?

The short answer is: yes, you can hide your followers list through TikTok‘s privacy settings. However, there are a couple caveats:

You can‘t remove the total follower count displayed on your profile.
Your followers will remain visible if you have a public account.

So while you can‘t completely delete your follower number like on Instagram, you do have options to limit visibility and access.

According to TikTok, the only way to fully hide your followers list is to switch your account to private or hide your "Following" list. Let‘s explore both methods.

Method #1: Switch Account to Private

The most effective approach to hide your followers on TikTok is to make your account private. Here‘s an overview of how it works:

Only approved followers can view your videos, likes, profile info, and followers list
Your account and videos will no longer be visible to the public
You control who can follow you by approving/denying follow requests

As you can see, a private account gives you full privacy over your followers and overall TikTok presence. Now let‘s walk through how to activate this setting:

Step 1: Open Your TikTok Profile

Launch the TikTok app and log into your account
Tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner

Step 2: Go to "Privacy and Settings"

From your profile, tap on the 3-dot menu button in the top right
Select "Privacy and Settings"

Step 3: Tap on "Privacy"

On the Privacy and Settings page, choose "Privacy"

Step 4: Toggle on "Private Account"

On the Privacy page, turn on the switch for "Private Account"
TikTok will prompt you to switch from a Pro to Personal account if needed

And that‘s it! As soon as you toggle private mode on, your followers list and account will be hidden from non-followers.

Now it‘s up to you to control access by approving/denying follow requests. I recommend being selective and only accepting people you know and trust.

While a private account provides the most followers privacy, it does limit your potential reach on TikTok. Just know that your videos won‘t be publicly discoverable anymore.

But for many people, the privacy trade-off is well worth it. You‘ve successfully hidden your followers list!

Method #2: Hide Your "Following" List

If you don‘t want to go completely private, another option is hiding just your "Following" list. Here‘s how it works:

Your followers remain visible to the public
But other users can‘t see the accounts you follow

While not as complete as a private account, it does provide some privacy over who you interact with. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Open TikTok Settings

Launch TikTok and tap your profile icon
This time select "Settings" instead of Privacy

Step 2: Tap on "Privacy"

In Settings, choose "Privacy" to access the privacy menu

Step 3: Select "Interactions"

Scroll down and tap on "Interactions"

Step 4: Tap on "Following List"

Under Interactions, select "Following List"

Step 5: Change to "Only Me"

Switch the setting to "Only Me"
Confirm your selection

And you‘re done! Now only you can see the accounts you follow on TikTok. If others try viewing your Following list, they‘ll get an error message.

The benefit here is you can hide part of your activity while keeping a public profile. Toggle the visibility back on at any time.

So in summary, a private account hides all of your followers, while the Following list just hides who you follow. Choose based on your specific privacy needs!

Who Can See Your TikTok Followers?

Let‘s break down exactly who can view your followers list depending on your account settings:

Account Type	Who Can See Followers List
Public	All TikTok users
Private	Only approved followers
Public + Following List hidden	Only you

As you can see above, a public profile gives anyone access to your followers by default. Here are some other key points:

Users can see mutual followers you share, even without your full list
Verified accounts automatically have public followers lists
Promoting your TikTok via ads also makes followers public

The only way to fully hide followers on TikTok is to have a private account or hide your Following list. There are no other options for limiting followers visibility.

Expert Tips to Lock Down Account Privacy

Restricting your followers list is a great start, but here are some additional tips to maximize privacy on TikTok:

Review all privacy settings – TikTok lets you limit visibility for likes, comments, messages, etc.
Be choosy accepting follow requests – Only approve people you know personally if private.
Avoid sharing personal details – Don‘t reveal full name, location, email, etc.
Turn on notifications – Get notified when you receive new followers or comments.
Block suspcious users – Don‘t hesitate to block any strange accounts that contact you.
Use the reporting tool – Report offensive, dangerous, or spam accounts to TikTok.
Google yourself – Search your name online to see what info comes up tied to your account.
Check privacy regularly – Revisit settings every few months in case TikTok adds new options.

Following these tips in addition to hiding your followers gives your account a major privacy boost.

Key Follower Privacy Questions Answered

Let‘s dive into some common questions people have around restricting follower access:

Can I hide my followers from specific people?

Unfortunately, no. TikTok‘s privacy settings are all or nothing. You can‘t pick and choose certain users to hide your followers from.

Do my followers know I‘ve hidden them?

Nope! Hiding your followers doesn‘t notify those accounts or stop them from accessing your profile. It only controls outside users seeing your list.

What happens if I make my account public again?

Your followers list will become visible to all users if you switch back to a public profile. Any privacy settings like hiding your Following list will revert back as well.

Can someone see my followers if we have mutuals?

Even if someone can‘t view your full followers list, they can still see any followers you have in common based on their own list.

Should I have a private TikTok account?

It depends! Many popular creators maintain public profiles to help gain more followers. But for personal privacy, a private account gives you more control.

Can I prevent a specific person from following me?

Not directly. With a private profile, users can‘t follow you unless you approve them. But there‘s no way to block a singular user from being able to follow you if public.

Hopefully these answers provide more clarity around how follower privacy works on TikTok. Now let‘s move on to the data.

TikTok Follower Privacy Statistics and Trends

Let‘s explore some revealing statistics and trends when it comes to followers privacy on TikTok:

Over 35% of TikTok users have private accounts according to data tracker Statista. This amounts to over 350 million users.
Among the most popular countries, users in Japan, South Korea, and China are most likely to have private profiles.
As of 2022, the average TikTok user has 552 followers. For accounts with over 10k followers, the average jumps to 5,372 followers.
Around 59% of teens in the U.S. say TikTok helps them express who they are. But 45% have privacy concerns according to a 2022 Pew Research survey.
Stalking and harassment are major factors why users hide their followers and activity. TikTok has over 1 billion monthly users, making it easy to encounter bad actors.
The top requested feature among TikTok users is more privacy controls, according to multiple surveys and reports.

As you can see in the data, a significant portion of TikTok users value privacy over publicity when it comes to their accounts. Hiding your followers list provides protection that many people seek on large social platforms.

The decision ultimately comes down to your own preferences and tolerance for risk. But TikTok provides the tools to lock down your profile.

Final Thoughts

In closing, hiding your TikTok followers is made simple through two robust options:

1. Switch to a private account to put your entire profile on lockdown, not just followers.

2. Hide your "Following" list to selectively conceal accounts you interact with.

TikTok‘s privacy controls empower you to manage follower access. While not absolute, they offer great protection for those concerned with anonymity and safety.

I hope this guide gives you clarity on the available settings to hide your followers list on TikTok. Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m always happy to chat more about optimizing account privacy.